Dr. Thomas White
“Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem…”
Joshua 24:1a (ESV)[1]
Of all the places Joshua could have chosen for his final covenant renewal with Israel, he chose Shechem. Why? Because Shechem was not just a location — it was a place rich with spiritual history and deep covenantal significance.
Approximately 600 years earlier,[2] God made a promise to Abraham that He would give his descendants the land of Canaan. That promise? It was made in Shechem (Genesis 12:6). The land they now stood on was the land God had first pledged so many generations ago.
Later, Jacob, after fleeing from Esau, returned safely to the land of Canaan. When he arrived, he came to the city of Shechem, and there he built an altar and called it “El-Elohe-Israel” — “God, the God of Israel” (Genesis 33:20). God had preserved him, and Jacob acknowledged it in worship. But there’s more.
In preparation for that moment of worship, Jacob told his family, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.”[3] They did. They handed over their idols and earrings, and Jacob buried them under a tree near Shechem (Genesis 35). Shechem became a place of cleansing, a place of commitment, and a place of obedience.
It was also a place of hope fulfilled. Joseph’s bones, carried out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem on the land Jacob had bought.[4] It became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants. Joseph had trusted that God would keep His promise, even though he never saw it with his own eyes. His hope was not in vain.
So Joshua chose Shechem for this final gathering of the tribes strategically. He wanted Israel to remember. God made a promise at Shechem. God kept that promise. And now, standing in the very place where that covenant began, Joshua called Israel to respond with obedience, faithfulness, and renewed worship.
What can we learn?
First, God is not in a hurry.
It took 600 years for the promise to Abraham to be fulfilled. God allowed centuries for the iniquity of the Amorites to reach full measure. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph never saw the fulfillment in their lifetime. But they believed — and their faith was not misplaced.
Second, God keeps His Word.
Not one promise failed. Not one word was forgotten. Every part came to pass exactly as God said it would.
Third, we can trust God with our future, even if we don’t see everything now.
I will likely go to the grave without seeing the return of Jesus. But I still believe. I still hope. Why? Because God kept His promise to Abraham — and He will keep His promises to me. He will return. He will resurrect the dead. He will make all things new. He will conquer evil forever.
Revisit your Shechems.
Every now and then, I visit my own “Shechems” — places where God has answered prayer, brought clarity, opened doors, or reminded me of His presence. These places matter. They aren’t sacred because of geography but because of how they remind us about God.
You probably have Shechems too.
- A quiet corner where you surrendered your life to Christ.
- A camp, a chapel, a hospital room, or a kitchen table where God met you.
- A place where tears fell, prayers were answered, or healing began.
These are not just memories. These places testify to the fact that God is faithful. You can trust Him.
COURAGEOUS STEP
Revisit your Shechem. If you can’t physically go there, then go there in your mind. Remember a place where God made Himself known to you or answered a prayer or supplied for a need. Journal or tell someone else about it to encourage your faith and theirs.
Dr. Thomas White
President and Professor of Theology, Cedarville University
Joshua was the successor of Moses, who led Israel into the promised land, and Joshua 24 records the final assembly of his life, a covenant renewal in which he called the nation to recommit itself to the Lord. He gathered the tribes at Shechem, a site layered with the history of God’s dealings with Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. By choosing that place, Joshua was calling Israel to remember everything God had already done before asking them to pledge their continued obedience.
It teaches that God keeps every word He speaks, even across centuries. Standing at Shechem, Israel occupied the very ground God had promised to Abraham roughly six hundred years earlier, proof that not one of His promises had failed. The passage frames God’s faithfulness not as an abstract idea but as a fact written into the land under their feet, and it calls God’s people to respond with renewed worship and obedience.
Joshua chose Shechem because it was where the story of the promise began and where God’s faithfulness could be seen most clearly. It was the place God first pledged the land to Abraham, the place Jacob built an altar and led his family to put away their foreign gods, and the place Joseph’s bones were finally laid to rest in the land of promise. Joshua gathered Israel there so the location itself would preach the message that the God who made the promise had kept it.
God first promised the land to Abraham at Shechem, and Israel did not take possession of it until centuries later, a span of roughly six hundred years depending on the chronology used. Scripture presents this delay as purposeful rather than as a failure, noting in Genesis 15:16 that God was waiting for the iniquity of the Amorites to reach its full measure. The long wait underscores that God works on His own timeline and keeps His Word across generations.
Shechem ties the patriarchs together as a thread of promise running through Genesis and into Joshua. Abraham received the promise of the land at Shechem in Genesis 12, Jacob built an altar and led his family to put away their foreign gods there in Genesis 33 and 35, and Joseph’s bones were buried there in the land Jacob had purchased according to Joshua 24:32. One location holds the beginning of the promise, an act of cleansing and worship, and the resting place of a man who died believing God would keep His Word.
Leaders apply it by building the discipline of remembering what God has already done before asking themselves or those they lead to take the next step of faith. Joshua did not motivate Israel with a vision of the future alone, but anchored their commitment in a record of God’s proven faithfulness. A leader who can point to the places where God has already shown up leads from a foundation of evidence rather than mere optimism and gives others a reason to trust God for what lies ahead.
Joshua 24 matters because every believer needs to remember that God keeps His promises, especially in seasons when the fulfillment is not yet in sight. The chapter invites you to revisit your own Shechems, the places where God answered a prayer, opened a door, or made Himself known, and to let those memories strengthen your faith for what is still ahead. The same God who kept His Word to Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph remains faithful to His people now.
Footnotes
[1]Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
[2]The span of roughly six hundred years is an approximation. The exact interval from God’s promise to Abraham to Joshua’s covenant renewal at Shechem varies depending on the biblical chronology used.
[3]This quotation is from the New King James Version (NKJV).
[4]See Joshua 24:32, which records that the bones of Joseph were buried at Shechem on the parcel of ground Jacob had purchased, and that it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
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